If anemployer doesn't understand the cycle of behavioral healthconditions, it can make the situation worse for the employee.(Photo: Shutterstock)

People often spend more time with their co-workers than they dowith their actual families. And sometimes these co-workers becomean employee's "work family." Family often notices when amember is suffering from a behavioral health condition, such as amental health or substance use problem, and the work family is nodifferent. While behavioral health was once seen as a taboo topic,it is important to discuss it — both at work and outside of it.

Nearly 1in 5 U.S. adults live with a mental illness. Statisticallyspeaking, encountering behavioral health conditions in theworkplace — and in life — is inevitable. However, how employerschoose to understand and address these conditions is what matters.While behavioral health conditions used to be judged andmisunderstood, more employers want to provide the support theiremployees need.

Related: Employers' mental health strategies coming into thespotlight

Before an employer attempts to provide support, they must firstunderstand how behavioral health conditions can progress. If anemployer doesn't understand the cycle of behavioral healthconditions, it can make the situation worse for the employee. Everystage in this cycle can impact an employee's productivity, healthand job performance if he or she does not receive the rightsupport.

Stage 1: The emerging behavioral health condition

Behavioral health conditions can arrive without notice. Almostanything can trigger a condition, whether it is losing a loved oneor stress from a job. While symptoms can be mild, an employee mayfeel uncomfortable or scared to confide in a co-worker orsupervisor for fear of getting stigmatized.

Ultimately, handling the condition is up to the employee, buttheir employer can help support them during this trying time.Employers can provide support by creating stigma-free workenvironments or find help for employees through employee assistanceprograms (EAPs). Having a supportive and open-minded workplace isimportant to supporting the mental well-being of employees.

Stage 2: Early warning signs

The second stage of an ongoing behavioral health condition is anincrease in symptoms. Employees may continue to hide theircondition from their employer, and these increasing symptoms oftengo unnoticed. Productivity and work performance typically sufferduring this stage, worrying employers.

If symptoms are noticeable, absence management and stay-at-workservices may be implemented to benefit both the employer and theemployee. When implementing disability management programs foremployees, select a disability insurance vendor that's able toaddress issues proactively and help the employee either stay atwork or return to work.

Stage 3: Severe conditions

Symptoms become more severe during the third stage of abehavioral health condition. Employees generally experiencesymptoms that directly impact their ability to work at this pointand may require a disability leave. If symptoms have gone unnoticeduntil this stage, providing support is critical to ensure anemployee is safe and healthy enough to stay at work or return towork.

While accommodations ideally would be provided before stagethree, support throughout the entire cycle is important.Supervisors may see employees facing severe health conditions asunreliable, difficult to work with, depressed and lazy. To preventmismanagement, employees also should be provided with outsideresources. Assisting them in obtaining services through an EAP,identifying reasonable accommodation strategies under the ADAAA,supporting the employee's FMLA application and helping themidentify in-network health care providers are all effective ways toaid employees with significant behavioral health conditions.

Stage 4: Long-term symptoms and effects

The most detrimental of the stages, stage four, is when anemployee may experience more severe or chronic symptoms. Thesesymptoms usually translate to an employee applying for long termdisability benefits, and could eventually lead to job loss and lossof health insurance benefits. Not only that, employees at thisstage often develop a "disability mindset" that focuses on thenegative aspects of their condition and can deter them from comingback to work. By suggesting and implementing goal-directed casemanagement and return-to-work strategies, employees can besupported, but these strategies often have less impact at thispoint than during the earlier stages.

Stage 5: Recovery

The fifth and final stage of any behavioral health condition isrecovery. Employees start to see improvement in their condition,usually through treatment or the natural course of the illness.While recovery can occur at any stage in a behavioral healthcondition, it is crucial for employers to step in and providesupport before severe or chronic symptoms arise.

Coming together to support each other

Unfortunately, fewer than half the people who meet thecriteria for a behavioral health diagnosis will ever receivetreatment. Without effective service and support, whether it isfrom a person's real family or work family, these conditions canremain hidden, and the balance between work and life can suffer asa result.

By having an informal conversation about behavioral health,employers create an open line of communication between them andtheir employees. Tackling these conditions head on is paramount tohelping achieve a supportive, healthy and productive workforce.

Dr. Dan Jolivet is the WorkplacePossibilities℠ practice consultant at The Standard, wherehe previously led the Behavioral Health Case Manager (BHCM) teamand managed the psychiatrist and psychologist peer consultants. Heis a clinical psychologist licensed in Georgia and Oregon and hasworked in behavioral health since 1981. Dan is also the practiceleader for Motivational Interviewing (MI) and goal-directed casemanagement at The Standard. Prior to joining The Standard, Danworked in managed behavioral health care organizations for 20 yearsin a variety of management roles and was in clinical practice as achild psychologist until 2003.

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